At first, they thought it was incomprehensible that Shen Wan would give up Prince Jin and choose Prince Ling, but now they understand it a little better.

However, no one said these words aloud. Soon everyone started talking about other things, from recent events in Kyoto, to who got engaged, who had a newborn child, and so on. The conversation eventually turned to the matter of holding a birthday banquet for the Empress Dowager.

In another month, it will be the Empress Dowager's birthday.

Shen Wan clearly remembered that Princess Huai'an had come to the capital with Prince An and Princess An to celebrate the Empress Dowager's birthday. Her elder brother fell in love with her at first sight and insisted on marrying her.

It's estimated that the Prince An's family will arrive in the capital in about half a month. I don't know if my elder brother will be able to return within half a month. The tragedy that happened to my elder brother in the previous life, I will never let it happen again in this life.

My elder brother and Princess Huai'an couldn't be together in their previous life. First, he taught the Prince of An's son a lesson without knowing the truth, which angered Princess An, who was unwilling to marry her daughter. Second, my elder brother injured his arm in a horse race and could no longer wield the red-tasseled spear, so he could not inherit the military power in our father's hands.

The second reason has been ruled out, the horse racing crisis has been resolved, all that's left is to beat up the heir of Prince An's mansion...

Although she had already warned her elder brother, Shen Wan was still worried. Although the later Prince An was employed by Xie Jingyan, it had to be admitted that the current Prince An was still quite irritating. In Huaizhou, the fiefdom of the Prince An, the Prince An was an absolute little tyrant. Being pampered and flattered had become a habit, so much so that he brought his habits from his fiefdom to the capital, where he ran into his elder brother and was severely punished by him.

Knowing my elder brother's personality, even if he had warned him, if he really encountered Prince An's son bullying people in the street, he would probably still be unable to resist teaching Prince An's son a lesson...

We need to find a way to nip the possibility of angering Princess An in the bud.

Shen Wan sat there lost in thought until a hoarse voice rang out:

"The Empress has arrived!"

Shen Wan came to her senses and looked out of the pavilion. She saw the old woman helping Empress Song walk over. She was dressed in a phoenix robe and looked noble and dignified.

As Empress Song walked toward the pavilion, a group of noble ladies rose to greet her. Even Princess Huyang stood up. When Empress Song entered, everyone curtsied to her.

Empress Song smiled and said, "Get up, everyone."

Empress Song looked at Princess Huyang and said, "Thank you for your help in greeting the guests, Princess Huyang and Princess Dong."

Princess Huyang smiled and said, "Your Majesty is being too polite. However, you left the palace quite early today."

When this matter was mentioned, Empress Song's expression stiffened.

When Prince Jin married Shen Ying last time, Empress Song was late in arriving. That was to accommodate the Emperor and wait for him to come along.

After waiting for a long time, the Emperor changed his mind after leaving the palace and went to Prince Ling's residence, making her and Prince Jin a laughing stock.

The Emperor didn't come last time, and it's even less likely that he would come today since the Prince of Jin is marrying a concubine. It's extremely rare for aristocratic families or royal families to marry concubines, let alone the royal family. The Emperor would find it shameful, but he turned a blind eye because he thought the Duke of Zhongguo had worked hard for the court and because Fu Shu's incident happened in the Prince of Jin's residence.

Empress Song subtly inquired whether the Emperor would visit the Prince of Jin's residence. The Emperor's face darkened, and Empress Song dared not utter another word.

Empress Song smiled and said, "There's nothing much going on in the palace, so I left early. It wouldn't be right to trouble the Princess again."

Only after Empress Song sat down did the others dare to sit down.

Seeing Empress Song and Princess Huyang chatting and laughing, Shen Wan hadn't thought anything of it before, but now she felt that something was amiss.

The Empress Dowager wholeheartedly supported the eldest prince and her dissatisfaction with Xie Jingyin's ascension to the throne was almost written on her face. However, Princess Huyang and Empress Song had always been very close. But in her previous life, after Princess Huyang's son died at the hands of the Prince of Yanping's heir, Princess Huyang could not bear the blow and fell ill. In addition, the Empress Dowager kept the palace gates closed and refused to see anyone, so Princess Huyang rarely entered the palace, and Shen Wan rarely saw her anymore.

Now that the Crown Prince and Prince Jin are locked in a fierce battle, why would Princess Huyang be invited to help Xie Jingyin entertain guests? Isn't she afraid that the Crown Prince will mind? Or does she want to be a fence-sitter, not offending either side? If the Crown Prince fails to win the throne and Xie Jingyin is the one who is ultimately made Crown Prince, will he treat her, Princess Huyang, well?

Noble ladies kept bringing their daughters to the pavilion to pay their respects to Empress Song. Shen Ying invited those young ladies from prominent families to go and admire the flowers. When they left, she didn't forget to call Shen Wan to come along, but Shen Wan made an excuse to refuse.

The Prince of Jin's residence is Shen Ying's territory. She was able to drug Xie Jingyan, so how could she not be vigilant? She stayed in crowded places and didn't go anywhere else. Even if Shen Ying had any tricks up her sleeve, she couldn't use them. Besides, she was familiar with every corner of the Prince of Jin's residence, so there was nothing to see.

However, Shen Wan didn't stay in the pavilion for long. Before Shen Ying had gone far, a little maid in a light pink dress ran over and said hurriedly, "Your Majesty, the heir of the Marquis of Anding and the eldest son of the Minister of Rites, Chen, are fighting in the front yard."

Empress Song's phoenix eyes darkened.

The once bustling pavilion suddenly fell silent, so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Everyone looked at each other, feeling that the heir of the Marquis of Anding and Young Master Chen were being incredibly inconsiderate, fighting at the wedding banquet of the Prince of Jin's mansion. What deep-seated hatred could they possibly have? If they disliked each other, couldn't they have waited until after the wedding banquet to take action?

Shen Wan frowned. Young Master Chen was a calm and composed person. How could he have gotten into a fight with the heir of the Marquis of Anding in the Prince of Jin's mansion? Could it be that the heir of the Marquis of Anding used him as a congratulatory gift?

The one who plotted against Yun Mo last time was the nephew of the Lady of Anding. The plan to save the beauty was disrupted by Young Master Chen, ruining Xie Jingyin's scheme. Today is Xie Jingyin's big day, so beating up Young Master Chen will be a good way to congratulate Xie Jingyin.

Just then, another maid came running over, panting, "No, something terrible has happened! The heir of the Marquis of Anding has angered Prince Ling and been kicked into the lotus pond by him..."

Shen Wan, “…???”

Why would Xie Jingyan hit the heir of the Marquis of Anding?

Even if they were helping Young Master Chen out of consideration for her and the Yun family, they wouldn't be doing it so directly, would they?

Empress Song's face darkened further. "How did the Heir Apparent of the Marquis of Anding offend Prince Ling?"

The maidservant replied, "When the Heir Apparent of the Marquis of Anding was fighting with Young Master Chen, he was kicked backward by Young Master Chen and accidentally tore Prince Ling's brocade robe. Prince Ling was very angry and then kicked the Heir Apparent of the Marquis of Anding..."

A noblewoman remarked, "It's just a torn brocade robe, why is Prince Ling so furious?"

The maid glanced at Shen Wan before saying, "It seems that the brocade robe was made by Princess Ling herself..."

Swish.

Everyone in the pavilion looked at Chen Wan.

Shen Wan was really struggling to cope.

She blushed and stood up, saying, "I'll go check the front yard."

After curtsying, Shen Wan hurriedly left the pavilion.

On the way to the front yard, Shen Wan regretted it all the way. She regretted rushing to finish the brocade robe these past few days. Not only was she exhausted, but even a brocade robe could cause trouble. This Prince Jin's mansion was indeed not a place to come to.